What's the speed of your turntable?

Mine is 33.7. I never noticed but my musician friend visited me recently and he said he could here that is was fast. I still don't noticed it but yes it is fast. Don't ask, don't tell.

 

Rega P3-2000. White belt

33.93 with the stylus in groove

 

And mine has the groove sub and the white belt. 33.7

 

I've never been able to hear mine running fast either, but I have to say, the idea of a 1200 or the new pioneer in a nicer plinth with a better arm has been very appealing lately

 

This thread has helped me come forward and admit what I've always known deep-down, I'm a speed denier and belt drive apologist. I knew my table was slightly fast. I played digital versions of the same material and thought "this sounds slow!" See what I did there, the digital was slow in my twisted logic, not the turntable being fast.

Why did I deny this truth? Several reasons I suppose; I got this new (to me) table so I wouldn't tinker so much, some of the benefits of the improved setup outweigh the 0.32rpm discrepancy, I don't wanna throw more money at it with a speed controller or have to sell/trade for a different one, etc. Now I have this app that confirms what I knew and I can't ignore it, or can I?

It is with a heavy heart that I say my name is Michael Ries, and my turntable officially runs fast at 33.65rpm. I'll turn in my critical listening badge ASAP.

 

I realised that the phone was very low on battery when I was trying this before.

With a fully charged phone now, have just rerun a few times on exact mode and I get 33.35 each time, so just a shade fast. Thats with a record on the platter and stylus in the groove playing.

The turntable is a Manticore Mantra from around 1989 and I have to say I'm pd happy with those results!

 

That is awesome! Just downloaded and used it on my 1210. It fluctuates between 33.3 and 33.4, but 45 is spot on. Totally cool.

 

Dr Plachy, congratulations! Very succinct and puts my mind to rest.

 

I just changed my signature from one jim tavegia quote:

"We are washing our LPs as Mr. Monk does his door knobs."
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to this one.

 

I had downloaded the free iRPM app to my iPhone a long time ago (is it even still available?) but never tried it for some reason until I saw this thread. My main table, a belt-drive Dual 510 that I bought new in the '70s, registered an almost perfectly consistent 33.3 (it only displays out to one decimal place) without my having to so much as nudge the pitch control knob from where I had previously set it. A product of remarkable Old World West German engineering that Dual!

I didn't check the 45RPM speed on the 510 but my other table, a DD Technics SL-1200, was predictably accurate at both the 45 and 33 1/3 speeds. Fun verification of what I already knew (due to having perfect pitch....and built-in strobes )!

 

I just took delivery of a Thorens TD-160S. Tested it with turntabulator and it came in at 33.32. Pretty close.

 

My Technics 'table is running at 33.34.

 

Is there an alternative? Not only is talc a well-known carcinogen, i'm highly allergic to it, and have asthma.

 

ridiculous prices for steely dan tix in northeast ohio too.....and its in a shed to boot.

fagen must need a new ferrari or he wants that new $120,000 tesla as soon its available, and a charging station in his driveway.

 

is there an assumption here that all phone gyroscopes are calibrated properly?

 

U-Turn Orbit Plus: 33.41
Music Hall MMF - 5: 33.38

I'm a bit surprised at the U-Turn. It's very much a budget table, I keep it around as a backup. Granted, I sprung for the acrylic platter (instead of the fiberboard,) but still.

 

They calibrate themselves after a few seconds of movement. The Turntabulator takes several seconds before it attempts a reading, and it takes several more rotations before it tries to calculate the result.

SOURCE: used to fix iPhones part time.

 

trust me..my gyroscope knowledge is weak. i can barely spell it properly.

 

According to Turntabulator over two tries on on Pioneer PLX-1000, I got 33.34 and 33.35. Stylus drag should slow that by .o1, so I'll call it perfect.

 

that usually means an issue with speed stability

 

Interesting thanks Nate - I did have the platter off to change the speed a couple of times as I'd dug out some 45 singles - on this TT the change from 33 to 45 is to move the belt after first removing the platter.

I wonder if something wasn't quite right the first time round, as well as the phone being low on charge.

The other thing I did different for the 2nd set of runs was to place the phone directly over the spindle, instead of just on the mat & as close to the spindle as possible.

Hmm think I'll need to rerun the test again.

 

If you've got an iPhone, definitely place it on the platter, maybe even closer to the edge. Spinning it from its center like a top will make it much more difficult for it to calibrate itself. It needs broader movement to truly get its bearings.

 

Ok thats even more food for thought thanks. The TT has a suspended sub-chassis and so when i put the phone at the edge of the platter the other day, it seemed to 'upset' the suspension. The suspension moves around as the platter rotates and I assume the belt tension will vary.

If thats true then I don't think any speed results with the phone there, would be representative of an actual record playing.

Maybe turntabulator is better suited to firmly suspended or no suspension TTs...

 

I have a VPI SDS and have set the speed with the Dr Feikert software. The turntable is a VPI Classic and the speed is not noticeable unstable. Recently I made the mistake of purchasing the Roadrunner from Phoenix Eng. and found that the speed drifts up and down. This is now driving me crazy! I purchased the Eagle and should be setting it up Tuesday.

Tim

 

Hmm...the only thing I can think of is having another iPhone on the other side of the spindle to balance it out That said, putting it right *next* to the spindle will probably get the job done.